Why don't people pop their pus-filled pimples when they are on their face ?

It is gross to try to talk to someone who has a big, pus-filled pimple on their face. It happened to me twice yesterday--a woman with one on her upper lip, and a guy witgh a huge, pus filled pimple on his nose. Don't people notice them in the mirror, or feel them when they wash their face?

Fact: Step away from that mirror! Some people might tell you that popping your zits will make them less noticeable and help them heal faster, but they're wrong. Picking or popping your pimples pushes germs further under your skin, which could cause more redness, pain, and maybe even a nasty infection. And popping zits can lead to scarring, which could last forever.

Some folks didn't because they said it would cause a scar. May be some truth to that: not sure.

That's what I've always heard. The only zit scars I have--right below the bridge of my nose--are the ones where I followed what people said: to not mess with them. After seeing what scars those two left, I decided it was better to nip it in the bud.

I've also heard there's a danger of popping one below the nose area, because there's a blood vessel that goes back into the brain, and squeezing can send toxins brainward. Personally, I think that's similar to saying a person can make millions per year in the NFL if he (or she) throws 30+ touchdowns per year. I've never given those a second though at popping, either. YMMV.

When I was a kid, my pimples generally popped up overnight, so I was able to attend to them in the morning, pop 'em and cover them up with a laquer of makeup. And yes, I do have a few scars from that.

Now that I'm older, the bastards are less frequent, which is nice, but they also tend to pop up during the day. Grr. This means that I'm sometimes shocked when I go into a bathroom and look in a mirror. Horrors! Have I been walking around with THAT on my nose for hours? How humiliating.

But I think that adults are also more likely not to pop, because they now know that yes, popping pimples does often lead to scarring. If not bumpy scarring, it can produce red or brown spots which take literally years to fade. You don't believe that as a teenager, but once you've seen the evidence on your own skin, you might be less likely to pop again.

Now that I'm older, the bastards are less frequent, which is nice, but they also tend to pop up during the day. Grr. This means that I'm sometimes shocked when I go into a bathroom and look in a mirror. Horrors! Have I been walking around with THAT on my nose for hours? How humiliating.

I've also had the lasting effects from not popping them. If I don't do something about them, they get bigger and bigger, then seem to fade, but the area remains hard and feels like there's a bump under the skin.

I get them during the day, too. I used to have horrible acne. In my thirties it has significantly calmed down, but now I get a few on my chin during my period. I take care of them at home, but I do not care to be popping pimples in the woman's bathroom at work. That is just gross.

I had moderate facial acne in my late teens, and popped those bad boys whenever I had the chance. I actually enjoyed doing it, and was fascinated by the eruption, the volume of the emanation, as well as the consistency of the spew, which changed depending on the firmness of the pustule. I usually had a small mirror and magnifying glass at hand for the event.

I suffered no future ill effects from my experimentation, and have no facial scars whatsoever, although I'd been told throughout my teens they would result.

Ugh, reading this thread made me so glad my acne is mostly gone. Thought it would never happen.

I don't EVER squeeze or pop my pimples unless they are whiteheads that are completely ripe and at the surface, and spew with the slightest pressure. Because doing so to other type of pimples usually doesn't result in pus expulsion, sometimes makes the infection longer-lasting or more severe, and tends to give me worse pigmentation which lasts longer. I had many years of moderate to severe acne to experiment with, trust.

And no, I don't care if my pimples gross you out. Neener. Of course I am keenly aware of exactly what is going on with my facial boils, it's just that I choose not to traumatize the skin surrounding them or spackle them with concealer.

I've never had bad acne, but have had the occasional spot - usually blemish-free skin with one enormous unsightly zit - well, it looks enormous and unsightly to me, anyway - and sometimes, even when it's huge, it won't pop.

Don't hit me, but, at 42, I have never had a pimple on my face. Just wanted to share that.

hmmmmph!

I am guilty. I woke up, looked in the mirror, and there wasn't anything on my face. Then on my way to work, I noticed a zit popping up on my nose, but didn't worry much about it. When I got home, it was a full on, puss filled bump.

The worst zit scars I have on my face are from two huge zits I had when younger that I did NOT pop and then put acne creme on. My doc showed me how to sterilize a needle and pop the zit. Then to get the pus out by gently applying pressure around the zit, not squeezing or pinching. Then I put something like Clearasil on it and they were usually almost nothing the next day.

What are you basing that on? I get whiteheads near my upper lip all the time; some of them practically on my upper lip (especially when I let my facial hair grow long). They're undeniably pimples and not cold sores.

What are you basing that on? I get whiteheads near my upper lip all the time; some of them practically on my upper lip (especially when I let my facial hair grow long). They're undeniably pimples and not cold sores.

She's admitted herself that she is ignorant of pimples.

Round my mouth is not my customary break-out spot, but it's happened before. Whiteheads usually, that come to a pus-filled head and are easy to pop. They really hurt when they're right on the border of your lip. I've never had a cold sore.

You can do something similar with a razor blade or with certain kinds of tweezers. Sterilization of your tool of choice and of the skin is de rigeur.

Ironically, I have had a small number of long-term (not permanent) scars from picking certain pimples, but ONLY if I've gone after them too soon. Sometimes, I feel them before they become full-fledged whiteheads, and then I have to resist the urge to pop them until the white stuff breaks the surface of the skin.

What are you basing that on? I get whiteheads near my upper lip all the time; some of them practically on my upper lip (especially when I let my facial hair grow long). They're undeniably pimples and not cold sores.

If it's right on the lip, it's undoubtedly a cold sore. Lip skin doesn't have follicles, which are what pimples grow out of. A cold sore looks just like a pimple, with a red base and a white head to it.

2. Because one does not usually have the necessary equipment for a sterile pus-draining procedure

Nothing special is required ... the weapon of choice need be nothing fancier than a needle, razor blade, or tweezers. Hot-as-possible tap water will suffice for sterilization, though rubbing alcohol is better. Also, when I was through, I used to like to apply hydrogen peroxide liberally to the esrtwhile zit.

A cold sore looks just like a pimple, with a red base and a white head to it.

Eh? A cold sore starts as a red lesion that becomes a blister that ruptures to weep clear fluid and then leaves a raw open ulcer. Cold sores do not have whiteheads (cite: http://www.chacha.com/question/do-co...-sore-and-zitt). If you have a pustule that you can pop pus out of it, it's a whitehead and not a cold sore. You can't pop a cold sore. You can pop a fever blister, but those are obviously blisters and not zits.

Eh? A cold sore starts as a red lesion that becomes a blister that ruptures to weep clear fluid and then leaves a raw open ulcer. Cold sores do not have whiteheads (cite: http://www.chacha.com/question/do-co...-sore-and-zitt). If you have a pustule that you can pop pus out of it, it's a whitehead and not a cold sore. You can't pop a cold sore. You can pop a fever blister, but those are obviously blisters and not zits.

When they initially erupt, before they get popped or pop on their own and scab over, herpes sores do have a white head to them. They aren't comedones, AKA "whiteheads", that's not what I was saying. But they will often have a white or yellowish top on it. And you can pop them.

When they initially erupt, before they get popped or pop on their own and scab over, herpes sores do have a white head to them. They aren't comedones, AKA "whiteheads", that's not what I was saying. But they will often have a white or yellowish top on it. And you can pop them.

Nothing special is required ... the weapon of choice need be nothing fancier than a needle, razor blade, or tweezers. Hot-as-possible tap water will suffice for sterilization, though rubbing alcohol is better. Also, when I was through, I used to like to apply hydrogen peroxide liberally to the esrtwhile zit.

I keep a box of sterile lancets, the kind diabetics use for testing and a box of alcohol wipes handy for this and minor first-aid (like splinters). I get nasty zits that hurt like hell until they pop; it helps to lance them if they need it. When I do this, I wash my hands and make sure my face is clean beforehand, and wipe the area with alcohol afterward, and wash my hands again. I don't re-use lancets, either; those get re-capped and thrown out. The alternative is a nasty, scabby face.

If it's right on the lip, it's undoubtedly a cold sore. Lip skin doesn't have follicles, which are what pimples grow out of. A cold sore looks just like a pimple, with a red base and a white head to it.

You can get whiteheads right on your lip, at the edge. I have them all the time and they don't go away until you squeeze that little stream of white goo out. If you squeeze it too much sometimes it will have blood in it but they don't really ever get inflamed or painful unless you've irritated it. If you do it just right it goes away without much hassle.

Cold sores look more like those big inflamed pimples. They are not the same thing. I get them too, very rarely but they are painful and annoying and it's ten times worse if you go messing with it.

When they initially erupt, before they get popped or pop on their own and scab over, herpes sores do have a white head to them. They aren't comedones, AKA "whiteheads", that's not what I was saying. But they will often have a white or yellowish top on it. And you can pop them.

You can, but you shouldn't. Especially not in the effort to not appear hideous to other people because it will only make it look much, much worse. AND crusty. Blech.

When they initially erupt, before they get popped or pop on their own and scab over, herpes sores do have a white head to them. They aren't comedones, AKA "whiteheads", that's not what I was saying. But they will often have a white or yellowish top on it. And you can pop them.

Well, the zits I have gotten right around my mouth or even on the border of my lip and regular skin look nothing like that. Thank jesus. They look like a regular, small, whitehead.

Zsofia, I have an area of hyperpigmentation on my jaw that comes from a long-ago cystic zit. Long-ago as in, over five years, and I still have it. People ask me if I tripped and hit my jaw... and if everything's okay between me and my husband.

I saw a dermatologist about it and all he could do was prescribe a bleaching cream, which had to be rubbed in three times a day, and was opaque white--not a vanishing cream. It was supposed to take a month to work, and the spot would reappear within a month of ceasing to use the cream.

I pop them because I have never suffered any ill effects from doing so. On the other hand, when I allow them to be thy usually turn into a hard stone like knot beneath the skin which then must be cut out by making a tiny incision with a razor blade. I don't get them frequently, and hardly ever no at age 30.

One can only hope it's because they are not aware that the zit has "ripened", so to speak. Once or twice in my life I had an inflamed and growing zit that wasn't "ripe" when I left the house, but became so over the course of a few hours during which I did not look at a myself. I was mortified when I discovered I had been interacting with people with visible pus on my face.

I think the blood, scabs, scars and other redness and damage are all less revolting than pus. Which is probably simply because I know what pus is, how it looks when it does pop, how it smells. If I did not have all that other knowledge, if I was an alien and I looked at a ripe zit, I probably wouldn't find it so disgusting.

What is astonishing to me is that YouTube is loaded with an amazing array of videos of people popping zits, draining boils, and otherwise recording and sharing with the world their Adventures In Pus. I suppose I understand it in the case of remarkably large and otherwise horrifying instances (which includes draining the pus from horses and cows and in this case its easily several GALLONS worth. The smell must have led directly to some barfing...it would have for me!).

I once saw a video of a horse abcess drainage that featured a dog showing a great interest in the fluid. That was strange to watch (though I understand why the dog was attracted to it).

I do pop my own zits; in my experience they go away much faster. I don't have scarring issues on my face, though there are a few spots on my back where I have popped bumps without giving them the same care I show to bumps in more visible locations. I have a big red mark on my forehead from a zit that I left alone because I thought it was too deep, and I didn't want to try stabbing it with anything. I don't really mind it, but every once in awhile a small pocket of goo will show up underneath the mark.

ST's vBulletin 3 Responsive Styles

Our newly refreshed styles in 2017, brings the old vb3 to the new level, responsive and modern feel. It comes with 3 colors with or without sidebar, fixed sized or fluid. Default vbulletin 3 style made responsive also available in the pack.
Purchase Our Style Pack Now